Lives Intertwined
by XCABAL
Summary: With the threat of the Aparoids neutralized, Star Fox is left with a war torn Lylatian empire to tend to and two vulpines will soon learn that their lives are more intertwined than they originally thought.


Four arwings barreled down the corridor deeper into the planet in hot pursuit of the aparoid queen. The virus that they injected was being suppressed and they had to seal the deal before she could get away.

"Get her!" Exclaimed Falco as they closed in rapidly to the fleeing queen.

"Analyzing… got it! Her weak points are marked on your HUDs!" Chimed slippy.

"The queen is afraid of us! Let's finish this!" Shouted Krystal as the adrenaline coursed through her veins.

"Alright, let's do this!" Said Fox as he and the rest of the team took up formation.

Fox took the lead in the assault and started unleashing a downpour of hyper laser fire at the queen's weak points while the team followed suit with support fire.

After the team unleashed enough force to decimate half of meteo; the queen exposed her hideous form that took the shape of a dragon-like head.

Falco looked like he had a plan in mind but his arwing took some extensive damage on their way to the queen's chamber. He wanted to get up in her business and deliver the hurt but as if Krystal read his mind she of all people took the initiative and thrust forward to meet the queen head on. "Cover me, Fox!"

In response to the close proximity the queen unleashed a flood of mines that started homing in on the loan arwing.

Fox kept his cool as he continuously cleared all the mines that came after Krystal, panic kept edging in little by little as the cloud of mines got thicker and thicker. Fox was in an adrenaline fueled panic as a mine detonated in a blind spot and shook the lone arwing. "Ahhh! Fox take out th-" before Krystal could even finish her words a second mind detonated under her and vaporized the arwing.

"NOOOOOO-" Fox immediately woke up as he rapidly brought his head up in a sweat induced panic. "-OOOOOO!" His head collided with the overhead lamp on the way up eliciting a grunt from the frightened fox.

Fox continued to hyperventilate as he finally registered his surroundings. "It was just a nightmare. It was just nightmare." Fox continued to repeat his mantra over and over until he was finally coherent enough to start breathing normally.

Fox looked over towards his bed, specifically at his alarm clock. He had been asleep at his desk for about two hours before the nightmare woke him. When he looked down he saw a small puddle of drool formed up on his desk that threatened to ruin the paperwork that he was working on. "Crap!" exclaimed the rattled vulpine as he rapidly wiped the drool from the desk and assessed what he was doing. "The expense reports!" Fox finally got his head back in the game as he cleared his muzzy mind.

#-#-#

Two months have passed since the Aparoid invasion was thwarted due to the joint efforts of Team Star Fox, Star Wolf, and the remnants of the Cornerian Defense Forces.

The sacrifice of the Great Fox in the final hour of the war was a high price to pay for the members of Star Fox, but in the end peace reigned or so everyone thought. Due to most of Corneria's forces being wiped out in the conflict; the CDF only had green cadets to swell their ranks, most never seeing actual combat.

This caused the outer rim of Lylat to experience a boom in pirate activity since patrols were stretched thin in those sectors. Corneria feared that the outer planets would soon turn their back on Corneria due to the constant supply shortages. The remaining veteran forces were stationed at vital positions in the system to protect key supply lines but even they were being stretched to the limit. The pirate menace mostly started out as a nuisance at first but quickly gained traction when there was no one around to stop them. Supply convoy raids, hijackings of civilian vessels, and much more had left the outer rim in complete chaos.

Star Fox had a lot on their plates. The past two months consisted of jumping from point to point with the team pushing their _Fichina_ class carrier to the limits. Since the destruction of the Great Fox, Star Fox was put out of commision nearly a week without a mothership to call home, having to remain on Corneria as the pirate infestation grew. One of General Pepper's last orders before being rendered comatose for life saving surgery was to bring out a carrier from mothballs to give Star Fox a ship to take the fight to the pirates, at least until a new Great Fox could be commissioned. The carrier was ancient by today's standards; a remnant of the first Lylat war that saw heavy combat duty on the outskirts of Sector Y. All systems were operational at the end of the week and Star Fox flew once again, albeit with a ship that had mostly outmoded equipment, but Corneria's ships were built to last and this carrier was no exception.

The Great Fox was docked at the CDF station orbiting Macbeth, the old station had been left relatively untouched during the majority of the conflict only experiencing light skirmishes that were easily repelled by the station's defenses, now the only threats were the occasional pirate vessel that would probe the defenses every once in a while. Traffic around the station was relatively light, small supply convoys escorted by other small time mercenaries would arrive and depart around the clock.

There was a ship in particular, an arwing in fact that had just arrived at the station's parameter that held one occupant who was becoming more irate by the second as he had it out with the Space Flight Controller officer on duty. "What do ya mean my identification is invalid!?"

"We're sorry, sir. Your identification cannot be verified at this time," Uttered the grey huskie in a bored Macbethian ascent.

"That's a load a crap! Your systems must be FUBAR!" Exploded the frustrated pilot.

"I can assure you that all of our system are running at full capacity." The SFC officer continued to drone on as if he was purposely deriving joy from being a pain in the ass.

"Son, I know for a fact that I made sure this here ID was good before I left Corneria!"

"We cannot allow you to dock until we have identified you."

"I'm in a gosh darn arwing for crying out loud! You don't see those everyday, who else flies arwings!?"

"I'm sorry, but like said, no ID, no docking.

The pilot began muttering to himself as his frustration began boiling over. "I don't have time for this! Can't I just do it the old way before we went to this automated crap?

With a defeated sigh the huskie downed the rest of his coffee before continuing. "Please input your name and ID so we can manually identify you."

The pilot quietly entered the required information to await verification.

The huskies received the numbers and in moments it brought up the information of the pilot he was having trouble identifying. His eyes became as wide as dinner plates when he finally found out exactly who he was talking to.

"O-o-oh, I am so sorry for the inconvenience, sir! Our systems must be having… technical difficulties!"

"Uh-huh." The pilot rolled his eyes at that last remark. "You can cut it out with that sir nonsense."

"Of course, si- I mean... let me just get you processed real quick and… done! You are cleared for landing pad seven!" The husky wanted this whole situation put behind him as fast as he could before the pilot could berate him some more.

"Actually, I wanted to dock directly with the Great Fox."

 _Crap_ was the only word going through the canine's head after hearing the pilot's request. "Um… I don't have the authority to authorize that…" The pilot continued to stare daggers at the huskie. "Y-you will have to clear that with the captain of the Great Fox first!"

The pilot gave a huff of annoyance before finally giving in. "Fine." The thrusters on the arwing were engaged while a hailing frequency was broadcasted to the Great Fox.

#-#-#

As the station's orbit continued to move; the calming rays of Solar's light faded slowly over the horizon of Macbeth, bathing the station in a twilight that allowed easy viewing of the planet below. Lights twinkled across the planet's surface as it was lit up by the cities that dotted the landscape. As time shifted into the late evening Fox was nearly done crunching the numbers from their latest mission in his quarters, a task he was accustomed to all to often. The team had recently captured a group of pirates that had been targeting settlements across the northern continent four hours ago and fortune smiled upon Star Fox as the pirates they had captured had a rather lucrative bounty on their heads. It's fair to say that the paycheck had a six figure bonus totaling on the high end on top of their initial payment after the pirate gang leaders were turned over to the proper authorities.

 _Hmm... after fuel, repair, and ammunition cost that should leave us with about…_ Fox's eyes widened after tallying the total and projected future spending. He couldn't believe his eyes. _We're set for the next six months!_ Fox was smiling at the prospect of everyone getting some extra spending credits at the end of the day. _Some of those credits could probably replace some of the aging systems too. Gods know that the launch platform in the hangar could use an overhaul._

Fox reclined in his chair letting out a massive yawn. His thoughts turned to what he would do with his credits once they got back to Corneria. The cerulean vixen who was somewhere aboard the ship came to mind. He mentally kicked himself for that slip of the lip he made on Sauria when Tricky blurted out those words. "Honeymoon…" Those words echoed in his mind over and over as he pondered. He couldn't deny it, he was enamored with the blue furred beauty. Before the war they had become rather close after their crazy adventure on Sauria. Krystal, the Cerinian warrior that Fox came to admire for her strong determination and unyielding spirit.

Fox knew that Krystal harbored the same feelings towards him, it became even more apparent after the invasion when he practically proposed to her back on Sauria. She was more subtle about her feelings for the todd back then when she would always try to join him for a mission when it came to working on the ground. The vulpine's words back on Sauria had emboldened Krystal to get even closer to him, she became more flitirous and teasing over the first couple of weeks after the war. Fox loved the attention she gave him but always had trouble showing the same level of attention he so desperately wanted to express.

Krystal always knew how to push his buttons; one of the perks of being a telepath. Her mere presence would turn him into a stuttering buffoon that could barely finish a sentence without jumbling his words, it was a trait that Krystal adored about Fox, always earning a giggle from her and even more bolder attempts to fluster him, but he knew she wouldn't wait forever if he didn't act. He was a little shy when it came to romance, but that was mainly due to his lack of overall experience, having only dated once after the lylat wars.

Fox let out a sigh as his mind began to wander. He imagined how he would tackle the situation; he defeated an evil overlord, saved a whole planet from being torn apart by a mad dictator, and took part in thwarting an invasion of alien space locust. But when it came to Krystal the vulpine was stumped.

One though came to mind and it shook Fox to the core, seeing her hurt if he took things to the next level. They've had plenty of close calls, but seeing Krystal horrifically injured or killed scared the vulpine to death. The profession alone caused you to make a fair amount of enemies down the line and Fox's line has grown extensively over the years.

That nightmare that Fox woke up from had been occurring every so often since they defeated the aparoid queen and it began to gnaw at the todd's state of mind once again. The nightmare always played out in the exact same manner time after time and it eroded his sanity with each passing occurrence. This time however it felt more intense than the previous experiences, it almost felt like it really happened

Panic began to set in but before it could get a foothold into his sanity Fox gripped his fist in defiance and forced the awful memory of the nightmare to be purged from the surface of his mind… for now. He knew this would continue to plague him until he did something impulsive. The problem was that he didn't really have anyone to confide his troubles with. Falco was a great pilot and a good friend but his track record in dealing with matters of this nature told him he would probably receive a mixed response. Slippy on the other hand always proved to be a romantic dud and any answer from him would prove less than stellar. Fox wouldn't be able to form a coherent sentence around the cerulean vixen and his worst fear would be him pushing her away in the end. Fox's thoughts turned to Peppy, the old hare always helped Fox through the darkest of times, especially after he returned from Venom on that dreadful day. He always provided a shoulder to lean on when the time called for it and Fox sure as hell needed the old hare to talk to about this.

Unfortunately for Fox, Peppy answered the call when General Pepper took a turn for the worse after the invasion. Peppy had been serving as the acting general for six weeks now and popular opinion had him pegged for taking on the job permanently. In Peppy's absence Fox only had the chance to get into contact with him a scant few times. Each transmission lasting only a few minutes at most. His mind began going back to the nightmare, his face turning pale as the images taunted the forefront of his mind.

Fox needed to take his mind off of these dreadful thoughts. The vulpine got up, switched the lamp on his desk off, and made his way for the door. As he stood outside of his quarters the dimly lit and silent halls of the habitation deck were the things greeting him. A distraction was needed and possibly a bite to eat. Looking straight ahead he saw the door to Krystal's room which was directly across from his quarters. The two foxes would often bump into each other during their morning routines. As the weeks passed after the conflict each morning became more awkward and silent, something that he new distressed Krystal to no end but viewed it as something necessary for the time being.

Fox turned left passing by Falco's room on the left while Slippy's room was on his right. Fox reached the lift at the end of the the habitation deck after a brief moment and entered the lift. As he boarded the lift he noticed that the old light in the ceiling was still flickering in and out. _Gonna need to get slippy on that._ He thought as the light would sometimes leave him in darkness for a second "Lounge," uttered Fox as the lift beeped in acknowledgement and descended into the bowels of the ship. As the lift continued it's decent the light finally flickered out for good, leaving Fox in total darkness. All he could do was grunt in vexation as the lift arrived at his stop. Fox disembarked the lift and continued on his trek while mumbling about the fate of a certain green toad if that light wasn't fixed. But before Fox could get any farther his wrist communicator sounded off telling him that he had an incoming transmission.

ROB appeared on the wristcom giving a small salute before returning to his neutral position. "Incoming transmission from Peppy Hare."

Fox arched an eyebrow. In all this time Peppy never initiated communication, having little to no time outside of the busy schedule he kept at command, Fox always had to schedule a communicae in advance to speak to the old hare. "Pipe him through, ROB." ROB gave a second salute before the screen switched to a hagerred Peppy. "Peppy you doing alright? You look like hell."

Peppy gave a slightly lopsided smile, "You don't know the half of it. Permission to come aboard?"

To say Fox was surprised would be an understatement. Peppy showing up out of the blue without any notice was something the old hare never did. He always made an effort to give advance notice. Fox figured he would have a story to tell. "You know you never need permission to drop by. Although we weren't really expecting you back so soon... or at all for that matter, anything we need to know about?"

Peppy winced as his ears drooped ever so slightly "I'll fill you in later, for now I just need your permission to satisfy those stooges over at the station."

Fox began snickering, "Of course, permission granted."

"I just wanna get docked and out of this ship."Fox finally calmed down while Peppy continued on, "I'll catch up with you in the lounge."

"I was on my way there actually..." Fox's demeanor changed ever so slightly for a brief moment when he remembered _why_ he was going to the lounge. The troubled todd quickly hid behind his no nonsense expression in hopes that Peppy didn't notice.

Peppy's perception caught on quickly that something wasn't right, "Fox what's wrong? You got that look about you whenever something's bugging you."

Fox let out a depressed sigh, Peppy knew him better than anyone for a reason. "You could say that, I just…" Fox struggled for a moment while attempting to maintaining that stoic expression. "Meet me in the lounge and we can talk." Fox found it tougher to hold it all together, his ears started to show that telltale droop whenever he was deeply troubled and peppy knew his arrival couldn't of came at a better time.

"Alright, I'll cya in a bit, Peppy out." and with that the wristcom went blank.

Fox regained his composure and focused on the matter at hand, he needed to get his nerves under control and the best way to tackle that was to get a bite to eat and wait for Peppy's silence as he walked the halls was deafening, the subtle hum of the engine core being the only sound to pierce the silence. His ears continued to swivel from left to right as he listened for anyone else roaming the halls.

His mind kept bouncing around Krystal and that damned nightmare. It consumed most of his down time off missions, but before it could go any further Fox collided with the door to the lounge making a rather loud thud. "Ow!" exclaimed the troubled vulpine as he rubbed his scrunched up nose.

The carrier was old enough that it didn't have the same automated doors that the more modernized models came with, something that Fox and the rest of the crew often forgot. He put his paw on the pad and the door slid open with a small hiss.

As Fox stepped into the lounge his heart skipped a beat as he looked to the couch. Sitting there in all her beauty was Krystal, the woman that kept him on pins and needles outside of their missions. "Oh... Krystal… I didn't know you were in here…" No response. "Krys?" Fox asked again. He walked up alongside the grey couch to find that she was fast asleep. "That last mission must have taken a lot out of you to..." He continued to admire her peaceful form as he watched her calm breathing, the way she sat there in her slumber warmed his heart to see her in such a tranquil state.

All it would take is three words. The three words that would complete his life. Once again his mind traveled to that day, the day they met. What a fantastic journey it turned into once she was freed from her crystalline prison. His mind continue to travel to the point where they defeated the Aparoid queen. One of the moments in his life that brought a stress that was only rivaled by two other events. The moment when he almost lost her. It was after that battle when he realize he couldn't live without her. He's tried to work up the nerve to respond to her advances, it sometimes worked but most of the time he would retreat behind that stoic shield he always erected. Often time he would turn back into a tongue-tied buffoon that could barely contain himself.

As he stood there, he admired the peaceful expression on Krystal's face as she slept. How he wished too cast his inhibitions aside and express his true feelings to her. But every time Fox came close to building the confidence to confess the nightmare would remind him of the risks that endeavor would entail and send him back to square one.

Fox stood there contemplating. Nightmare be damned, if he didn't do something he would descend into madness.

Minutes passed as Fox continued his internal struggle, without warning the door to the lounge slid open, a tired Peppy shuffling in. "Stupid light in the elevator is out." mumbled the old Hare in Fox's direction.

Not hearing Peppy's rant Fox turned his head to the old hare and felt an air of relief. "Good to see you."

"Likewise," replied Peppy as he took a seat at the table behind the couch. Peppy saw the blue ears sticking up over the back of the couch. "She awake?"

"Nah, the last mission knocked her out." Fox replied in a quiet tone as he pulled a seat up to the table.

"I bet. I heard over the wire that y'all took the whole Delgoro gang out. Hefty bounty to cash in on right there." Peppy continued to scratch his chin in contemplation.

Fox shifted in his chair before getting back up to make his way over to the fridge, "Yeah, the mission brief didn't even say who we were after, just a bunch of pirates harassing another settlement as usual." Fox continued digging through the fridge until he found his target, a small little plastic container with his name on it. "Was one hell of a firefight once we traced them back to their hideout. Me and Krystal took to the ground while Falco and Slippy provided cover from the air." Fox popped open the plastic container revealing some leftover lasagna. "Nearly wiped out the whole gang in the assault, we found Delgoro and his lieutenant hiding away in a small bunker under the hideout." Fox grabbed a plate and placed the leftovers in the microwave, the microwave whirred to life after a moment of punching some buttons. "They thought they could shoot their way out until Krystal threatened them with grenade. Never saw anyone drop their blasters so quickly," chuckled Fox as he leaned back against the counter that held the microwave.

"Ha, sounds like another day in the life of Star Fox." Peppy said as he beamed an approving smile.

Fox took a deep breath in response. "Yeah, the bounty was a huge boon to. I ran the numbers and we have more than enough credits to keep this old ship running for a while now." It was at the moment the microwave dinged to signify that its job was done. Fox grabbed the hot plate out of the microwave and sat back down at the table. "So, what brings you back? We all thought you were gonna be in charge now.."

Peppy leaned back in his chair releasing a breath he never knew he held. "It's true that the council tried to appoint me as the new general, but I turned it down."

Fox raised an eyebrow at the unexpected response as he twirled his fork into the lasagna. "Why? We thought you were gonna retire from the team after the aparoids." Fox said as he plunged the fork into his meal.

"I did say that, didn't I?" The hare said as he crossed his arms, "Don't get me wrong, the offer was tempting. I just felt that Corneria didn't need an old mercenary in charge of the whole show. I was a Major in the CDF back in the day before James and I formed Star Fox, but that was a long time ago."

Fox swallowed another bite before responding. "I see." Fox rounded up another piece of lasagna on his fork before downing another morsel. "So if you're not in charge, then who's the lucky candidate?" Fox bemused as he sat his fork down.

"Remember Colonel Cortez?"

Fox mulled the name over in his head. "Rings a bell."

"He was leading the fleet during the Oikonny rebellion over at Fortuna just before the whole aparoid fiasco started, always had a flare for the dramatic." Peppy stretched a bit to work some kinks in his back.

"Aah, him. We haven't met face to face; but I remember him rallying the remnants of the fleet to Corneria as the aparoids were invading it."

"He assumed temporary Command of the CDF while we were sieging the homeworld. He was next in line when I turned down the job. Speaking of which, he wants to have a meeting face to face with the whole crew since you're going to be dealing with him when it comes to matters involving the Lylat system." Peppy said as he got up and made his way towards the cupboard to fetch an empty glass.

"When?" Fox said as he began digging into his lasagna once more. Unbeknownst to the two a certain cerulean vixen was beginning to stir on the couch. Krystal gave a small sniff as she smelled the delicious scent of Fox's dinner. The mission had been a tiring one and she fell asleep nearly instantly when she sat on the couch. She moved her leg ever so slightly and felt the weight of her gear backpack putting pressure on her foot, with a little effort she moved it to the side, freeing her foot. Her foot proved to be more uncooperative as the weight of the backpack made her foot fall asleep. Krystal sat there as she subtly stretched her leg to wake it up.

As her foot rejoined the waking world she suddenly became privy to the conversation that was taking place. "Sometime in the next week or two. He's still coordinating the relief effort to Papetoon, Fortuna, and Macbeth."

 _Peppy? When did you get here?_ Pondered the vixen as she eavesdropped on the conversation.

"Alright, sounds good." The alluring voice of Fox caught Krystal attention, a small smile forming across her face. How she admired that strong tone of his, so firm and full of authority. The conversation changed gears suddenly. "So are you back for good or are you on your way to a retirement home on Fortuna?" Fox said with the biggest smirk imaginable.

"Hardly." Huffed Peppy. "I'm back for good now. I ran everything for the past two months and I can finally say without a doubt that Corneria's politics just plain suck." griped Peppy.

"That bad?" Fox retorted as he finished up the last bits of lasagna on his plate.

Peppy rolled his eyes in a dramatic fashion. "Word of advice Fox; stay a mercenary, you'll live longer." Fox and Peppy both threw their heads back in laughter after that one, even Krystal started giggling, but it was drowned out.

Fox got up and walked his dishes to the sink as the laughter died down. "Haven't laughed like that in a while." Rinsing his plate and fork, he placed them in the dishwasher and made his way back to his seat.

As Fox walked he looked in the direction of the couch, giving a worried glance to the vixen who slept there. Krystal could sense the turmoil that rattled within the vulpine, she knew something had been gnawing away at Fox for some time now, and the feeling was always most intense whenever he was near her. It reeked of fear, a deep fear directed at at her.

She could never pinpoint exactly what the fear was exactly, Fox had usually allowed her into his mind freely before but for reasons she couldn't fathom he was resisting her attempts now. Krystal could force her way through his mental barriers but such an act was highly frowned upon outside of certain circumstances as it was a total violation of one's privacy.

Krystal would never violate Fox in such a way, she could only hope he would come around eventually for she hated to see him being stressed so severely.

Peppy saw that look before. It was the same look he saw before boarding the Great Fox. Fox has always been under duress running Star Fox but this time it was different. Fox never really liked to talk about things that troubled him outside of a select few, him being one of the few. However this one looked like it was really hitting the vulpine hard, only once had Peppy seen Fox in this way and that was when he broke everything off with Fara during the interim after the Lylat wars.

Fox sat back down in his seat and looked up at Peppy. Peppy gave him that look that told him that it was time to talk "Fox, something has been getting at you and it really shows." Peppy gave Fox a reassuring look. "It's about Krystal, isn't it?" Fox wasn't really all that surprised that Peppy knew. The old hare could always read him like a book, but he just wasn't sure on how much he actually knew.

Peppy gave Fox a reassuring look that slowly diffused the tension in the air "Why don't you start from the beginning." Fox's ears and tail drooped in response. Krystal could sense all of Fox's apprehension peak, but it all dissipated in the span of a second, as if a chain that bounded Fox's unbridled emotions became undone and replaced with a clarity that she had never sensed before in the vulpine.

Fox looked at Peppy with a wanging vigor. "First things first; how much do you know?"

This earned a raised eyebrow from Peppy, "Well, I know that you two had gotten along rather well over the past couple of years. If what I've heard about y'all holds true, you two can get down right competitive."

Fox began to rub the back of his head while chuckling all the while. "Yeah, we can. You should've seen some of our sparring matches in the gym back then; Cerinian martial arts are truly a sight to behold." Krystal boasted a prideful smile, the skills taught to her by her father were among the last few things that she had to remember her family by. "But nothing is more amazing than with her staff." Krystal looked down at her staff that was resting in the holster of her backpack. Krystal and her staff were inseparable from the day she received it, the only other person to ever utilize it for a short time was Fox. Ever since they completed their unplanned adventure on Suaria; Fox took a vested interest in Cerinian staff techniques and she was overjoyed to share a piece of her culture with someone that showed genuine interest, especially since it was Fox of all people. The one person that helped in her time of need, gave her a new home, and brought her on as the newest member of Star Fox.

Krystal continued to reminisce about the events of the past few years, little did she know that Fox was doing the same thing. She could sense a certain calmness emanating from his mind, she could sense something else but she couldn't make heads or tails of it. Peppy spoke up "I want to apologize in advance for this one though." Fox and Krystal both snapped from their moment, Krystal re-adjusting her ears slightly to pick back up on the conversation while Fox raised an eyebrow.

"Apologize? Apologize for what?" Fox wasn't sure what Peppy was getting at.

"I overheard Tricky talkin' about a certain honeymoon."

The color on Fox's face began to rapidly drain away while over on the couch Krystal fought herself from bursting out in laughter.

"How did you…?"

"When Tricky tackled you it triggered the trauma alert system in your suit." Fox looked at Peppy with a perplexed look before the hair continued, "You remember? Your suits have a built in communicator in case the one on your wrist is damaged. Apparently Tricky damaged both when he landed on you since you couldn't hear me screamin' atcha."

Things started to click into place for Fox and it started making sense except for one thing "Kind of odd that something like that would stop working so easily."

"Yeah, rest assured that it was replaced after the mission." Peppy stretched a bit in his seat while Fox sat there contemplating the fragility of the suit comms, but before Fox could delve deeper into it Peppy leaned over slightly with a smuggish smile. "So… not yet?" Once again Fox became white as a sheet.

"Well-um-I-you see..." Fox's flustered mind could barely process a single thought. Krystal on the other hand was having a blast listening to Fox trip over his own tongue.

"Relax, I'm just poking fun," Peppy chuckled.

Fox glared at Peppy for a good long while, who continued chuckling at Fox's expense. Back on the couch Krystal had calmed down and was replaying the events of saving Sauria from the Aparoids in her head. The two of them worked efficiently together while rooting out the infestation, it was almost as if they could could sense the other's thoughts. The connection felt even more intense after Sauria when they were sieging the shield complex on the aparoid homeworld. Krystal had her suspicions but she wanted to be one hundred percent sure before she talked to Fox about it, she could only hope that what she thought was happening was happening. One thing was for certain though and that was when they were a force to be reckoned with when they were together. The same feeling of being in sync could be felt when they were flying in their arwings but it was never as strong.

Both parties took a relaxed breath as the air around the table began to settle, but Fox was the first to speak up in a dour tone. "I haven't felt right in weeks and it's been torture Peppy." Krystal perked up at this revelation, she knew something was wrong with Fox ever since the end of the war, Fox had began distancing himself from her little by little. She wanted to confront him about it in private, but he would always slink away to his room or somewhere else after a mission. It even got to the point where he would constantly act like he was in mission mode whenever she got near him. Peppy just might achieve what she had failed to do.

"I've barely spoken to her outside of missions over the past month. After we destroyed the queen… I've started avoiding her… even after what I said on Sauria." There it was, all the stress that had built up from the past few months finally reached its breaking point.

Peppy reached over and placed a paw on Fox's shoulder which nearly got Fox to jump out of his fur. "Hey, relax Fox, why don't you start from the beginning this time."

Krystal felt a new yet familiar energy spike within Fox as he lifted his head up to speak. "It started during the fight with the queen…" Krystal's head began to tingle as if it was on fire before the world around her began to fade out. Krystal struggled to move but the unexpected event left the vixen staring into a black abyss, barely a second passed before a bright light engulfed the darkness.

Krystal opened her eyes and came to the realisation that she wasn't in the lounge anymore but inside an arwing, time felt as if had slowed to a crawl as she was regaining her bearings. She tried to swivel her head from left to right but couldn't; the world outside the cockpit quickly came into focus to show the Aparoid queen's hideous dragon-headed form, and right in front of the queen was a lone arwing unloading everything it had into the queen's face. Explosions from a mine that the covering arwing had briefly missed rocked the lone arwing. The comm system sparked to life and to her surprise she heard the familiar sound of her own voice. "Aaah! Fox! Take out those mines!" Krystal remembered this exact moment, she had taken the initiative to blast at the queen's weak points in an attempt to end this fight once and for all.

Time slowed for a moment as she heard Fox's voice echo all around her, "She risked her own life taking on the queen like that." Krystal could feel the raw emotion emanating from every word as Fox struggled to continue, "We've had our close calls before, but this was... different… I never expected her to charge in like that." Time resumed its normal pace as clarity dawned on Krystal that she was viewing a memory, but not just any memory, a memory from Fox.

Krystal could hear the adrenaline fueled heartbeats thumping in Fox's ears as he watched Krystal's arwing rock from the blast. Fox's mind screamed out in terror when the torrent of mines continued to home in on the lone arwing,he desperately tried to tell Krystal to call off her attack but she insisted on continuing it for just a while longer, he had to devote every millisecond to shooting down every mine that came near her. Falco and Slippy did their fair share of clearing mines but the sole task of protecting Krystal fell on Fox's legendary reflexes. Another mine came close again but in the nick of time Fox shot it to pieces.

More mines continued to pour in to snatch the daring vixen from existence. It truly was a sight to behold for Krystal; seeing the vulpine make split second decisions on which mine to shoot first proved to be a challenge that was pushing the vulpine's stress levels to the breaking point.

Time once again slowed to a crawl, but this time it was Peppy who spoke, "You were afraid you weren't going to be able to protect her."

Krystal could hear Fox's breathing become more tense as he struggled with what Peppy just said. "I thought I nearly lost her when that second mine exploded." Time resumed again as the onslaught of mines continued to seek out Krystal's arwing on point. Fox carefully picked out the mines that got near Krystal but one mine escaped Fox's crosshair and detonated directly underneath Krystal's arwing. The craft shook again, but this time Fox could see that his HUD told him that she couldn't take another hit like that.

The com channel sparked to life again with a terrified vixen on the other end, "Aaaah! Fox!" Fox's blood ran cold as the mines continued to assault the vixen.

The scene before her froze completely as Krystal saw her arwing continue to fire upon the queen. As the cloud got thicker she began to fall back with the mines continuing to trail her. Fox's distraught voice echoed into her ears once again, "I don't know what she was thinking; this is the kind of reckless stunt that I would of expected from Falco!" Krystal was taken aback by Fox's words. She thought she was helping but the way he said it made it sound like it was a hindrance instead. Krystal's anger began to escalate in response to her wounded pride.

Before this toxic line of thinking could continue any further, she remembered the raw emotions Fox was having moments ago. The emotions she had read told her that this was one of the most traumatic experiences he's had in years. That his only crime so far was worrying about her well being.

Krystal felt guilty that she nearly fell prey to her own pride so easily. If this was another time and place she would of likely lost it and bit the vulpine's head off.

"She could of been killed Peppy. I'm worried, if anything happened to her I-I… I don't think I could take it." Fox's voice filled with distraught continue to echo, "I care for everyone on the team and I would take a blaster for all of them but it's… different with Krystal, I would do anything to keep her safe… even if it meant taking her off the roster." Krystal was taken aback by Fox's comment, she knew she could handle herself just fine on her own, but at the same time though she could feel the swirl of emotions that emanated from Fox. Krystal knew he cared deeply for her but had no idea that he would go that far to ensure her safety. Krystal was afraid Fox would do just about anything at this point if it meant she was out of harm's way. After losing her homeworld she had nowhere to go and Star Fox was her only family. She was scared that Fox would take that away if given the chance.

Peppy chimed in after a moment, "Have you tried talking to her about this at all?"

Fox hesitated for a moment before speaking. "No, I want too but I…" Fox hung his head down low with his ears pressed against his skull, "I don't know what to do; one part of me is telling me to go march over there and sweep her off her legs, but the other part is telling me to put as much distance as I can between her and Star Fox." Fox rested his head in his paws, sighing in frustration. I lo-"

Krystal felt the energy building up from Fox reach unstable levels, ruled by pure emotion. Without warning before Fox could finish that sentence the arwing and the rest of the world disappeared in a flash as she blacked out again.

Back in the waking world, Peppy continued to console a distraught Fox. " I should have saw this coming. You've always put the wellbeing of those closest to you above your own, especially if it's someone you love. Your father was the same way towards Vixy."

Fox lifted his head up a to meet Peppy gaze. "W-what?"

"I'm not surprised that he didn't tell you. He rarely shared his problems with anyone, always had to deal with it himself no matter the cost. Especially after… well you know." Peppy had maneuvered his chair next to Fox. "You knew that your mother was a pilot at one point, but what they never told you was that she was also apart of Star Fox when we started it."

This was news to the vulpine, Fox knew that his mother flew in her younger years but not once did either of his parents say anything about her being a member of the old team.

"Yup, James, Vixy, me, and… Pigma." Peppy's tone dripped with venom at the mentioning of the deceased hog. Fox didn't like that unsavory character's name mention either for it always brought with it memories of betrayal.

Fox wanting to move the conversation forward. "Why didn't they ever tell me?"

"Your mother always had hopes you would finish school and get into a good college, do something outside of fighting all the time. Your mother was wise and knew it was inevitable that you would follow in their footsteps after your first time in an arwing, she hoped that she could delay it for as long as possible." Peppy continued to smile on as he thought back to those fond days. "What I'm trying to get at is they both went through a similar situation that you two are facing."

"What do you mean?" Fox's perplexed face conveying his curiosity.

"James always had that soft spot for family that you share. Always placed everyone else's well being above his own. Especially since he was madly in love." That got a smile out of the vulpine, no matter what was thrown at them they always persevered. "There was an accident during a mission to Fichina, your mother nearly didn't make it out alive and it changed something in James. After she got discharged from the hospital things became heated, there were arguments that spanned whole days. James tried to forcibly remove her from the team, but she wouldn't have any of it." Fox's face took on a morbid frown. The thought had crossed his mind to cut Krystal loose from the team. She would be safe, but at what cost? Krystal wouldn't take it lying down, that was something Fox was sure of, she would fight him to the bitter end over this. "The fighting lasted about a month until it suddenly stopped. After that, things just returned to normal. Like it never even happened."

With a hopeful look on his face Fox looked to Peppy. "What happened?"

"Honestly? I have no idea." Peppy shrugged. "A week later James finally proposed to her. Guess he just came to his senses. We all continued to fly missions for around a year 'n a half before your mother hung up her wings for good.

 _That wasn't what I was expecting…_ "Why?"

Peppy gave a huff of amusement. "She had you."

"Oh…"

"You should talk to her about all of this, if what you said is right, all that milage you tried to put between you two probably causing more harm than good." Peppy said as he motioned to Krystal.

Fox bowed his head in shame, Peppy was right; he thought he was doing the right thing, but instead he likely ended up hurting the one person that meant the most to him.

"Thanks Peppy. This was something I needed to hear for a while now."

"I'll always be there for all of you, more so than ever now that I'm back." The lapine broke into a grin as he ruffled Fox's mohawk. "Anyway, I'm tired as hell and I should probably get some shuteye." Peppy unleashed a mighty yawn as he got up and did a final stretch.

"When you get to the habitation deck your room will be the last one on the left. It's one of the old officers quarters, it'le work until you get everything moved back in."

"Sounds good, I'll see you folks tomorrow. Oh and Fox?" Fox looked up at Peppy one final time. "Take it easy and think it over." And with that Peppy exited the lounge.

Fox got up and headed over to the couch. Once again he basked in her beauty as she slept. He held a soft smile as he grabbed one of the pillows and placed it behind her head. After a moment the vulpine sat down next to her and planned out what he would say once she woke up. Before he even got that far an unknown force pressed against his mind. "W-w-what is happ-" He never even got to finish before he was out cold.

#-#-#

I'll be honest, this took longer than it ever should have. But procrastination is a pain in the ass and my focus kept wandering, I'll endeavor to not make that mistake again.

Like always, reviews are mighty appreciated no matter how old the darn thing is.

Star Fox is owned by Nintendo.


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